Archive for the ‘Conferences’ Category

This has been out for a couple of months now, but it’s just so cool I wanted to put it up on my blog.This is not science fiction, it’s reality and Sixth Sense is one of the projects from MIT Media Lab.

Video of presentation comes courtesy of TED and forms part of their ongoing series of TEDTalks – watch and be amazed, but I don’t think they’re taking orders yet!

The final night of the awards was last night, and although there was no ‘after party’, everyone seemed to split up into groups to carry on. I’m not going to try and relay all the award results here but you can see who won what here.

Last thoughts on Adfest. It’s a lovely festival, and although there were the occasional glitches, it adds to the charm of what is a very friendly show. There’s some amazing talent in the region, but a lot less of the rampant egotism seen in other ‘more western’ parts of the world.

I’ve made some new friends from countries throughout Asia Pacific, people I’ll stay in contact with and hope to see again soon. The other juries and jury presidents were cool people, and somehow, being at Adfest seemed to allow them all to be very approachable. The quality of speakers was excellent, and the sponsors that were there have given great support to the festival. The organisers of Adfest are doing a terrific job, and even though this was a difficult time for them, the whole event was positive, pragmatic and upbeat.

The continuous theme for all future Adfests will be “Made in Asia”, and I think that means friendly, warm, humble and talented!

We did our final round of judging, to select the ‘Cyber Lotus Best in Show’, and to nominate some work for the new Lotus Roots category.
Like the other judging rounds, there was passionate discussion by all members of the jury, and we’re totally satisfied with what we’ve selected as the 2009 ‘Best in Show’, but again, details will be kept under wraps until Saturday evening’s Awards Ceremony.

The festival officially opened today, and after the official opening, things kicked off with the Gunn Report 2008 – Asia Pacific Edition. Read the rest of this entry »

I have been asked to judge the ‘Cyber Lotus’ award entries at this year’s Adfest, to be held in Thailand from 19 – 21st March.

ADFEST is an annual regional advertising event that celebrates creativity in the Asia Pacific region. It is a platform designed to elevate creative standards and promote communication within the advertising and production industry.

Creativity + Technology + Culture.

I’m particularly excited because there’s some amazing creativity in the digital space within the region. Technologically, some Asian countries not only have blistering broadband speeds, but are also streets ahead of us in take-up of the mobile channel. Then to really spice things up, between various countries, there are big differences in cultural norms. Language, urban culture, humour, design aesthetic and what constitutes ‘acceptable’ differ considerably, and it is the task of the judges to navigate through all of this. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been asked to speak at the 2nd Digital Media Summit in Auckland on the 11 – 12 March.
Focusing on ‘the challenges and opportunities a digital future brings’, I’ve been asked to speak about the opportunities and threats of UGC and Web 2.0 for marketers – all in 45 mins!

I was flattered to be asked to be a plenary speaker at this years’ event in Sydney, particularly as I’d been a panel speaker at last years’ Summit!
The aim of the summit was to ‘provide marketers with the ideas, insights and strategies to create authentic, value-added brand experiences that turn customers into brand evangelists’.
With 35 speakers focusing on live events, sponsorship and retail activation, branded content, word-of-mouth and digital – this was an action packed 2-day session. Read the rest of this entry »